Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it

The 83-year-old Supreme Court justice said her mother-in-law gave her some sound advice on her wedding day. “In every good marriage, it helps sometimes to be a little deaf,” Ginsburg wrote of the guidance in a Saturday essay in The New York Times that was adapted from a forthcoming book.

“I have followed that advice assiduously, and not only at home through 56 years of a marital partnership nonpareil. I have employed it as well in every workplace, including the Supreme Court,” she continued. “When a thoughtless or unkind word is spoken, best tune out. Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance one’s ability to persuade.”

Another friend, who was commenting on why her relationship worked, said “we are too old to pay any attention to petty bullshit”.